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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23711809">Stilted Waters</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/mae_calliope/pseuds/mae_calliope'>mae_calliope</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>No Fandom</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, M/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 09:56:06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>511</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23711809</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/mae_calliope/pseuds/mae_calliope</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>*This is an original story that I have been trying to write and I think if I put it on here, it will motivate me to write.*</p><p>In the distant future, the world has changed. The languages of old are almost lost with time and the people are not the same. People are distant and fearful, children are given away at birth to facilities to be trained. The Morrígan Facility is a place where children can grow and thrive. They are watched over by their caregiver and are taught valuable lessons. They are taught the ways of the Nightlands, mysterious lands where those of age will eventually be sent to come back with testimonies. The dangers of the Nightlands were unforgiving and would not hesitate to kill. Every class at the facility had always been the same except one. </p><p>The teens of Class #201947- Jaime, Edmund, Arietty, Evaline, and Holden- promised to always stay together no matter what. They are lost in a world that demands composure from them. They know what their mission will be when they come of age for the Nightlands, but first they have to survive training at the facility.</p>
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</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Stilted Waters</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Prologue: In an Aisling Filled Sky</strong>
</p><p>    There had been a story that Jaime’s caregiver had told him whenever he couldn’t sleep. A story about a little boy who watched the stars every night. The boy had been given the name Ai, for it meant “love” in one of the old languages. Every night, Ai would leave his warm home to travel through the forest. He would run through the night. Bounding over babbling brooks and weaving in between tall trees all to find the perfect spot. A rock on the edge of a great cliff.</p><p><br/>
    And so, every night, Ai would sit on that rock and watch as the stars shone brightly in the sky. His eyes would light up when one of the stars decided to shoot across the sky. Every night was the same. For years, Ai would travel to his secret spot and watch as the night sky put on it’s wondrous show. However, one night, something was different.</p><p><br/>
    One night, he wove through the trees and leaped over brooks to come to a jarring halt. Sitting upon the rock was already a shadow. Ai recognized the shadow immediately to be his mama’s. As he skipped over to her, she turned to meet her son. She smiled a soft smile and welcomed him in her arms. She put her mouth to his ear and whispered softly.</p><p><br/>
    “I know why you come out here. I used to watch the stars too.” Ai pulled out of the hug to be swept up into his mother’s arms. She sat down on the rock and put Ai down on her lap. “Ai. Do you know where your name comes from?” She said this softly while gazing up at the stars.</p><p><br/>
    “Of course Mama. It means love!” He smiled brightly, expecting a response from his mother but she continued to look up at the stars as if she herself was expecting something. Ai’s smile faded and he lowered his voice to say, “Mama?”</p><p><br/>
    “Do you know what we would have named you if you were a girl?” She smiled softly and spoke before Ai could even think of a response. “Aisling. It means dream. You were my dream. My love. My everything.” She finally looked down at her son and continued. “I remember coming here and wishing on these stars for something good to happen. These stars are what gave me you, my love. These stars are Aisling. These stars are for dreams. You, my sweet Ai, you are my love.”</p><p><br/>
    Jaime knew there was more to the story, but the rest didn’t matter to him. No matter what he learned in school, that part of the story always remained. It amazed him. The idea of something called a mama. The word was so foreign. So old. No matter how many people he asked, he could never find anyone who would tell him the difference between a mama and a caregiver. They must be interchangeable, he thought once. So, he called his caregiver “Mama” one time after tutoring.</p><p><br/>
    He got beat for that.</p>
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